


Back to the Start

by orphan_account



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Do-Over, Time Travel, listen I know it says major character death but its literally only for the first chapter, more tags to be added eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-07-29 04:28:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7670074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ladybug falls in battle, Chat Noir harnesses the power of the Creation and Destruction miraculous stones to go back and stop it from ever happening. Thrown back further in time than he expected, Adrien has the chance to change everything from day one - including his lackluster friendship with Ladybug's civilian form, Marinette.</p><p>(On indefinite hiatus until inspiration strikes again. Sorry, I really love this concept but !!! I cannot)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Back He Goes

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: (30/12/16)  
> Sorry there hasn't been an update in a while! I've been super... unsure about how I want to continue with this. It started as just a super self-indulgent piece made up of scattered ideas and was going to be chill as heck. Then it got like... a thousand views and I was like HURK STRESS PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY READING IT.  
> As for when the next chapter will be out, I am unsure. With the new year, I'm hoping to devote more of my time towards writing. While the exact date is definitely not decided, I hope to post the next before the end of February. And while I super-duper-appreciate comments, comments asking about when the next chapter will be posted are...  
> Hella stressful. Sorry but I am a fragile little man who needs constant reassurance and tea. (ಥ﹏ಥ)

“My lady, please, keep your eyes open,” Chat sobbed as he cradled Ladybug in his arms. Her eyelids fluttered open weakly as she lifted a hand to his cheek.

“I’m sorry, kitten,” she said, a single tear rolling down her face. “I couldn’t win this one. I guess my luck had to run out someday.” With this, her head rolled to the side, her transformation breaking with a rush of pink light. Chat was left to stare down at Marinette’s body, finally connecting all the dots he’d left unchecked.

“Chat Noir,” a tiny voice peeped, and his eyes were drawn to the small red creature that sat on her chest. The kwami’s bluebell eyes gazed mournfully at him and a lump formed in his throat. “There’s not much time. You can’t let Hawkmoth get her miraculous.”

With shaking fingers, Chat brushed back Marinette’s hair and gently removed her earrings. He hold them in his palm and spent a few moments looking at them before he got an idea. It was a risk, but having lost Ladybug - Marinette - he was willing to try almost anything.

“If I have the miraculous stones of Creation and Destruction,” he began slowly, his focus shifting to the kwami in front of him. “Then I’ll become really strong. Can I save her?”

Tikki nodded gravely. “Yes, but you must be careful. Too often have heroes worn them with good intentions, only to doom the lives of many.” Having received his answer, Chat Noir fumbled with the earrings for a moment, wondering how he could wear them with no piercings. Feeling for his fake kitty ears, he shrugged and poked the earrings through the leather, ignoring how Tikki winced slightly at his actions.

Immediately, he felt his chest swell and light filled his vision. When it faded, he looked down to see red spiralling up his arms, contrasting with the black leather. A quick glance around him confirmed that the red kwami was gone.

Laying Marinette on the ground, he stood with a final regretful glance at her. He turned to glare at the akuma, who thus far had simply stood by and watched.

“Hawkmoth!” he shouted, fists clenched by his side. “I know you can hear me and I want you to know, that I will stop you. But first, with the power of these Miraculous Stones, I will save Marinette. I will stop this from ever happening.”

As soon as the words escaped from his mouth, Chat felt a rush of energy and suddenly he was falling. All around him was dark, apart from a tiny prick of light in the distance. As his body fell closer towards it, he reached out a red clad hand towards it, allowing the light to wash over his body.

The first thing he was aware of was the beeping of the alarm on his phone. Opening his eyes, he found himself back in his room. Hesitating slightly, he reached for his phone, switching off the alarm and checking the date.

It was the day he tried to attend school for the first time.

“Holy hell,” he muttered to himself, as he rubbed the empty space on his finger. “I actually did it."


	2. Kwami Acquired

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! Hopefully this will satisfy y'all for now! This is unbeta-ed so hopefully it's okay ;w;

After several minutes of pinching himself and freaking out silently in his head, Adrien realised that he was going to need to hurry if he wanted to sneak out to school without being caught prematurely. In a flurry of movement, he pulled his clothes on and brushed his hair into place, not even bothering to take the time to shower. Sneaking out was far easier than he remembered, but he supposed it was because this time he knew what to expect.

He was almost tempted to take action in avoiding Nathalie and going to class. But no, he didn’t want to change too much, too soon, for fear of changing the near future. If he didn’t go via the front gates at the right moment, then he wouldn’t be able to help Master Fu, cementing his role as a miraculous holder.

He was about to run up the steps when he heard Nathalie call after him. “Adrien, please reconsider, you know what your father wants.” Adrien hardly offered any words in return, his attention already caught by Master Fu who was struggling to reach his walking stick. He closed the distance between them, picking it up and helping the old man stand.

“Thank you, young man,” he said, earning a warm smile from Adrien. He looked over his shoulder, to see Nathalie and Gorilla watching him. Trying his best to look disappointed, he walked over to them, dragging his feet to add to the effect.

“I just want to go to school,” he muttered, the words easily rolling off his tongue. “Please don’t tell father about this.” Whether past, present or future, Adrien knew how strict his father could be. Gorilla placed a firm hand on his shoulder and led him to the car. Throughout the journey, Adrien tried his best to keep his nerves in check. Unable to pace in circles, he resorted to tapping his fingers against his leg, a steady staccato rhythm.

Too soon, he was back in the dining room, rattling off answers to questions with ease. He knew that it was almost time for his father to make an appearance and even the mountains of work could do little to distract him. All too soon, he heard the tell tale clicks of his father’s shoes, and he swallowed against the anxiety that he could feel building.

“Give me a minute, would you, Nathalie?” Gabriel asked, knowing that his assistant would comply, before turning to Adrien. “You are not going to school, I have already told you. Everything you need is right here, where I can keep an eye on you. I will not have you outside in that dangerous world.” Though Adrien had convinced himself that he’d be able to keep his cool during this disagreement, he still couldn’t help but try to convince him.

“But it’s not dangerous out there. Why can’t I just go out and make friends like everybody else?”

“Because you are  _ not  _ like everyone else,” Gabriel shot back, his voice getting more heated. “You are my son!” At this Gabriel turned on his heel, telling Nathalie to continue with the lesson. Frustrated, Adrien ran from the room, ignoring her offer to finish early. 

Bolting into his bedroom, he slammed the door behind him and vaulting the couch in a set of fluid movements. Pushing down on his building anger, he opened the ornate box that waited for him on his table. Shielding his eyes briefly against the flash of green light, he opened his eyes to come nose to nose with his kwami.

“Alright, no time to waste. Plagg, Claws Out!”

“Wait-wait-wait, how do you know what to-” Plagg was cut off as he was pulled into the ring and Adrien allowed the familiar light flow over his body. Spending no time appreciating his outfit this time, he leapt out his window with his baton already extending to send him soaring across the city.

He came to a halt at a non-descript roof, hoping he had the right building. He found himself tapping his foot impatiently, but soon a red blur shot past him and tumbled to the ground. He jumped off his roof to see the familiar, but new, Ladybug sprawled across the pavement. Wordlessly, he offered a hand to help her to her feet. Before she could voice her thanks, he pulled her into a tight hug.

“I’m sorry,” Adrien choked out, pulling back and attempting to appear normal. “I’m just really glad to see you again. Not that we’ve met before! We are complete strangers after all, yes?” An awkward silence passed between the two of them before she laughed.

“Yes, I suppose we are,” she agreed, looking completely baffled. Adrien couldn’t help but join in with her soft laughter, a real smile working its way onto his lips.

“Well now we’ve gotten that out of the way, what do you say we go kick akuma butt?” Ladybug snorted this time, but together they sprinted across the rooftop to reach the stadium where Stoneheart would be arriving at shortly. As they travelled, Chat introduced himself and shared what he remembered of the akuma with her. “And remember, if you hit him then he grows in size. And don’t forget to purify the akuma when you break the possessed object!”

“You seem to know an awful lot about this,” she said, sending a sideways glance towards him. “Are you sure you’re new to this?”

“Yup! Totally new! Never done this before!” he replied, earning an eye roll from his partner. She seemed to shrug in midair, before propelling herself forward again with her yo-yo. Following her lead, Chat joined her to perch on the edge of the stadium’s roof. All seemed just as it was before, with Stoneheart about to crush Kim. With practiced ease, Adrien positioned his staff between them, sliding down it to come face to face with the akuma.

“Why not pick on somebody your own size?” he quipped, earning little in the way of a reply from Stoneheart. The rocky villain swung his fist down towards him, though it was easily dodged. Taking care not to hit him, Adrien danced around him, in a way that he knew would both confuse and annoy his opponent. Though he had yet to be caught, he felt a pang of concern at the fact that Ladybug hadn’t jumped in to help. His gaze flickered to where she still stood, her body drawn in on itself. He kicked himself as he remembered how unsure she had been when they first transformed.

“I could use some help here, Ladybug,” he shouted over to her. Seconds later, he heard a cry of shock, and whipped round to see a goal post flying towards Alya. He flung his baton out, creating a barrier for it to bounce off. With this moment of distraction, Stoneheart had picked him up and was slightly crushing him in his fist.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally heard the whirring of Ladybug’s yoyo as she flew past them. Gone was the doubtful expression, now replaced with pure determination. 

“Animal cruelty? How shameful!” she said, pulling on her yoyo and tripping up Stoneheart. Flying from his grasp, Chat tumbled through the air and onto the pitch. “Sorry I took so long, Chat Noir.”

“It’s cool, you’re here now,” Adrien replied, glad that she had found her confidence. “The possessed item is in his right hand, we need to get it so you can purify it. Now would probably be a good idea for your lucky charm.” She nodded at this, throwing her hand up into the air and calling out for it. When the inflatable landed in her arms, she looked mildly confused.

“Don’t worry, my lady, I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Chat reassured her. He watched as her eyes roamed around the stadium and finally lit up with an idea. Grabbing the hose at their feet, she quickly fit it in place and turned to face Chat with a grin in place.

“Don’t resist, trust me,” she told him before wrapping her yoyo’s string around his ankles and spinning him around. While on any other day he’d swear that he trusted her with all his heart, today he found that it was hard to do that when he was being flung through the air. Once more, he found himself in Stoneheart’s grasp, and he distantly heard Ladybug taunting the akuma as she leapt at him.

With the both of them in his craggy fists, Ladybug twisted her head to call out to Alya, ordering her to turn on the nearby tap. The inflatable soon filled up, forcing Stoneheart’s hand to open and freeing her. She ran over, to crush what had fallen from his hand, watching as the akuma fluttered out.

“Ladybug! You need to purify it!” Chat Noir shouted to her, worried she might not have remembered. It seemed as though she had, as she was already swinging her yoyo out, catching the butterfly and cleansing it. Ivan reverted back to himself, both him and Chat falling to the ground. Picking himself up, Adrien offered his curled fist to her.

“Good job, Ladybug,” he said, holding his hand out more when she didn’t seem to get it the first time. After some hesitation, she bumped her own fist into his. “Now you should probably get going. Your transformation’s going to wear off soon.” As he spoke, her earrings beeped, almost as if in agreement.

“What about yours?”

“I didn’t use Cataclysm, so I’m fine. You, however, are running out of time.” He earned a nod from her, and she turned to leave, pausing only to wave over her shoulder. Tearing his eyes away from her retreating form, Chat switched his attention to Ivan. “You know, I get how it’s scary to tell someone how you feel about them. But in your case, I think you should go for it! Tell her how you feel. Trust me.” At this, Ivan nodded, his face set with new resolution.

“Uncanny! Amazing! Spectacular!” From Alya, a million questions began to spill out. “Are you going to be protecting Paris from now on? How did you get your powers? Did you get scratched by a radioactive cat? What about the other superhero? Oh, I have a ton of questions to ask you, mister.. Um..” Her voice trailed off as she realised she didn’t know what to call the feline hero.

“My name is Chat Noir, and I am but the humble partner of Ladybug, who you saw earlier,” he answered, with a bow and a flourish. “I’d love to stay for a while, but I’m afraid I have other matters to attend to!” With a quick salute, he bounded off, using his baton to get to higher ground and disappearing from sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No idea when the next chapter will be... forgive me.... orz


End file.
